A House panel is directing the Defense Department to ensure the interoperability of certain air and missile defense systems through operational testing, according its April 22 markup of the fiscal year 2016 defense authorization bill. The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee would require the Pentagon acquisition chief and the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to conduct "operational testing that they determine is necessary to ensure militarily useful interoperability," the markup states. The testing would be conducted on Patriot missiles, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and Aegis ballistic missile defense ships.
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